Chuck (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Philippe Falardeau

Starring:  Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Michael Rappaport, Naomi Watts, Jim Gaffigan, Pooch Hall, Morgan Spector

Chuck tells the true story of boxer Chuck Wepner and the two biggest fights of his life:  One against Muhammad Ali and one against the aftermath of the fight.     Wepner gained folk hero status after nearly going the distance against Ali in a 1975 heavyweight title fight.   He was knocked out with nineteen seconds to go in the 15th round, but his tenacity and his ninth-round knockdown of Ali provided the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone to write Rocky (which Stallone later denied).    Ali says the knockdown was the result of Wepner stepping on his foot, but this was likely the aging champion's attempt to save face.    Wepner, who was derided as The Bayonne Bleeder, wasn't expected to give Ali much of a fight, but he gave him more of a battle than expected.    Wepner never expected to win the fight (and he likely wouldn't have if it had gone to a decision); he just wanted to go the distance.    If this doesn't sound like Rocky Balboa, then nothing does.

Chuck Wepner (Schreiber) is former Marine from Bayonne, New Jersey with a reputation for being able to take a punch and for bleeding heavily.   He is a top 10 boxer, but isn't famous outside of Bayonne.  He runs a liquor route for the local bars in between fights and trains out of a run-down gym.    After Ali upset Foreman in 1974 to regain the heavyweight title, Wepner is unexpectedly chosen by Ali for his next title defense.    Why?  Because Chuck is white, and Don King was playing up the racial element.    Ali (Hall) takes Wepner lightly in press conferences and in the ring until he is knocked down, then he starts taking the hard-hitting Wepner more seriously.    Wepner loses, but shows enough chutzpah to turn him into an instant celebrity.    He goes from local hero to national hero.    It doesn't take long for all of the hero worship to go to his head.    He becomes the indignant "Do you know who I am?" guy if you make him wait his turn at the bar.    If you don't know, he will tell you.  He calls himself the Real Rocky, as if that means anything.    When Rocky wins Best Picture in 1977, Chuck celebrates as if he won it.   As a follow-up, he battles Andre The Giant in the ring, but loses when he is tossed out of the ring by the 7'4" Andre.

For a guy like Chuck Wepner, the fame is the worst thing for him.   He was already on thin ice with his wife Phylliss (Moss) over his infidelities even before the big fight.    In one well-handled scene, Phylliss interrupts a meeting between Chuck and a potential one-night stand and proceeds to tell the other woman all about Chuck's moves and his empty promises to her.    Phyliss is no pushover.    She puts up with a lot from Chuck, but knows where to draw the line.    After one night too many of drinking, women, and cocaine, Phylliss throws him out for good.    I admired the street-smart toughness Moss brings to the role.    She is a woman who is occasionally willing to stretch her boundaries, but eventually will say "enough" and mean it.

Chuck meets Linda (Watts), a local bartender who doesn't easily fall for Chuck's pickup lines even though her birthday is the same as his and her favorite movie (like Chuck's) is Requiem for a Heavyweight.    She humors him and would be interested in him if his reputation as a cocaine abuser and philanderer wasn't well-earned.    Chuck is full of intriguing supporting performances, including Morgan Spector who does a dead-on Sly Stallone and Jim Gaffigan as John, Chuck's best friend.  Also, Michael Rappaport, as Chuck's estranged brother, also provides touching dimensions when you least expect them.

Schreiber is not only physically convincing in the title role, but we like him despite his obvious flaws.    Schreiber brings an everyman quality to the role.    We might even know a guy like him and perhaps shake our head when we see him blow one opportunity after another.    Stallone sets up an audition for Chuck to appear in Rocky II, but he is still hung over from partying the night before and loses out on the role.    Chuck is the kind of guy who headbutts his steering wheel in anger over such a lost chance, and then does more lines of coke to get over it.    Years later, Chuck hits rock bottom when he is imprisoned for selling drugs.    In one more turn of the screw of life, wouldn't you know that Sly Stallone is filming his next movie right on the same prison grounds where Chuck is incarcerated? 

Unlike Rocky Balboa, Chuck Wepner was unable for a long time to turn his opportunities into successes.    But, in his own way, he triumphs over addiction and marries Linda, so things turn out all right for him.    We find we are happy for him, and this is one way we know that this movie, biopic trappings and all, still worked.   

Footnote:  Wepner eventually sued Stallone over the Rocky series, and they settled out of court.    When you see the events unfold in Chuck, how could Stallone deny that Wepner wasn't his inspiration for the iconic character?